1. Field of the Invention
The invention concerns a locking device for a sliding door, window or the like equipped with a lock fitting having an actuator mechanism adapted to operate on a locking member, more particularly a hooked bolt projecting from the leading edge of said sliding door, window or the like to cooperate with a keeper disposed in corresponding relationship thereto on the frame, said locking member being moved by the actuator mechanism parallel to said upright of the sliding door, window or the like.
The present invention has applications in the field of fittings for buildings and is more particularly concerned with locking devices for sliding doors, windows and the like.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Lock fittings for sliding doors, windows and the like include those which are surface-mounted on the door, window or the like and those which are embedded in the leading upright thereof.
A lock fitting of either type is usually adapted to operate on a single locking member, more particularly a hooked bolt, adapted to cooperate with a keeper disposed on the corresponding upright of the frame.
The sliding door, window or the like is frequently an assembly of metal or man-made material sections which usually delimit a tubular internal chamber that has already been used for multiple point locking by lock fittings such as those described above.
Document FR-A-2 632 343 describes a lock fitting for a sliding door, window or the like comprising a cartridge surface-mounted on the inside face of the leading upright of said sliding door, window or the like and accommodating a hooked bolt. The bolt can be operated either from outside using a key or from inside using a slide operated by a holding member.
The lock fitting as described in the above prior art document includes an operating rod extending above and/or below the aforementioned cartridge and sliding in a plate accommodated in the tubular leading upright of the sliding door, window or the like. Finally, the actuator mechanism of the above lock fitting operates the hooked bolt and said operating rod simultaneously, the operating rod including means for cooperating with immobilizing members attached to the frame.
Obviously, a lock fitting of the above kind with multipoint locking cannot be fitted to a sliding door, window or the like which does not have them without profoundly modifying it. Moreover, in such an eventuality, it is not feasible to re-use the single hooked bolt lock fitting that an existing sliding door, window or the like usually incorporates.
The same drawbacks are encountered in the case of the multipoint lock fitting described in document EP-A-0 757 146. The actuator mechanism is surface-mounted on the sliding door, window or the like, more particularly on its leading upright, which is in the form of a section delimiting an internal tubular chamber. The actuator mechanism operates on a rod which can move vertically inside the tubular chamber to operate on locking members in the form of hooked bolts accommodated in cartridges which are also inside the tubular chamber of the section. A hooked bolt of the above kind projects from the leading edge of the sliding door, window or the like through an opening formed in it.
On the leading edge of sliding doors, windows or the like of the above kind in which the leading upright is a section with a tubular internal chamber, the section further defines an approximately U-shaped groove in the bottom of which are openings for the hooked bolt (s) to pass through. A U-shaped groove of the above kind enables the sliding door, window or the like, once closed against the frame, to cover the keepers that are generally surface-mounted on the frame.
Finally, document EP-A-0 566 447 describes a lock fitting for a sliding door, window or the like including a central actuator mechanism designed to be enclosed in the tubular chamber delimited by the section defining the leading upright of the sliding door, window or the like. An assembly is surface-mounted in the bottom of the U-shaped groove on the leading edge of said door, window or the like and comprises an operating rod and plate receiving, along its length, locking members in the form of hooked bolts or the like adapted to cooperate with keepers in corresponding relationship on the frame.
The problem again arises of transmitting the action applied to the central actuator mechanism to the surface-mounted operating rod (s) in the groove on the leading edge of the sliding door, window or the like.
More particularly, if the sliding door, window or the like is already fitted with a single locking point type lock fitting, this must be removed from its housing and replaced with a fitting with multiple locking points, as described in document EP-A-0 566 447. This solution is therefore far from economical.
The present invention proposes a simple and inexpensive solution which, with minimum adaptation, instantaneously converts a standard lock fitting with a single hooked bolt type locking member into a multipoint lock fitting having all the advantages of and a similar degree of security to, if not greater than, fittings with multiple locking points like those described in the above summary of the prior art.